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This Week In Photos: Rats Investigation, One Year Since Migrants First Bused To Chicago And More

PHOTOS: Take a peek at life in the city through the eyes and lenses of the Block Club Chicago staff.

Emily Barrueta takes the temperature of her five-year-old son, Jean Marcus, who was battling a 102.9 degree fever on Aug. 30, 2023. Nearly 200 asylum seekers have been spending the night at the 12th District police station in Pilsen.
Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

CHICAGO — Thursday marked one year since asylum seekers were sent to Chicago on buses by Republican governors, and our coverage of this crisis has not wavered since.

Block Club Chicago also just finished a months-long investigation with the Illinois Answers Project on the pervasive rodent issue that plagues the city.

See what Block Club reporters captured while covering the neighborhoods this week.

Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
A large rat is seen in the alley behind the 3700 block of North Sawyer Avenue in Irving Park on June 8, 2023.
Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
13th Ward assistant Isidro Rosado shovels dry ice into a rat hole in the backyard of a Chrysler Village row home in efforts to snuff out the rodent life that has been troubling the 6300 block of South Long Avenue in Clearing on May 19, 2023.
Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Muskrat traps are used where throngs of rats have continually ransacked Amanda Weinberger’s North Center backyard and garden, as seen on June 2, 2023.
Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Humboldt Park resident Liz Murray has been battling a rat infestation in her apartment building for months, as seen on April 28, 2023.

Read more: Why Chicago Is Losing The War On Rats

Credit: Mina Bloom/Block Club Chicago
Suzie B. Wilson declined to answer questions when reporters when reporters spoke to her briefly at her home earlier this year.

Read more: One Real Estate Empire, $15 Million In Unpaid Rat-Related Tickets

Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago
Migrants take shelter and live inside of the Near West 12th police precinct in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 29, 2023.
Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Emily Barrueta takes the temperature of her five-year-old son, Jean Marcus, who was battling a 102.9 degree fever on Aug. 30, 2023. Nearly 200 asylum seekers have been spending the night at the 12th District police station in Pilsen.
Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago
An ambulance illuminates migrants standing outside of the Near West 12th police precinct in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 29, 2023.

Read more: One Year After First Migrant Buses Sent To Chicago, City Still Unprepared To Tackle Crisis: ‘There Is No Over For This’

Credit: Maxwell Evans/Block Club Chicago
Jesus Del Toro (far left) of the city’s Office of New Americans speaks on the city’s plan to reopen a migrant shelter at the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel in Kenwood Wednesday as (from left, seated) Chicago Police Deputy Chief Stephen Chung, Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) and Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) look on.

Read more: Kenwood Migrant Shelter Will Bring Families Out Of Police Stations, But Some Neighbors Fiercely Oppose Plan

Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Lisa Marie Farver and Coelti write poems on typewriters for strangers in Andersonville on Aug. 26, 2023.
Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Coelti reads a poem she wrote for Rich on a typewriter while Lisa Marie Farver types another poem in Andersonville on Aug. 26, 2023.

Read more: Meet Chicago’s Typewriter Poets Creating Verses To Go

Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Members of Friday Morning Swim Club in July 2023. Organizers announced they are canceling the group’s swims off Montrose Harbor for the rest of the year.

Read more: Friday Morning Swim Club Canceled For Rest Of Summer

Credit: Alex Wroblewski/Block Club Chicago
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks with local vendor Michael S. Thompson who sells honey.
Credit: Alex Wroblewski/Block Club Chicago
A crossing guard and traffic barriers on West Logan Blvd.

Read more: Logan Square Farmers Market Gets Visit From Mayor, More Space To Spread Out After ‘Cruel Threat’ To Cancel

Credit: Quinn Myers/Block Club Chicago
2048 owner Quenjana Adams poses for a picture at her non-alcoholic wine shop, 2048 W. Chicago Ave., on Aug. 25, 2023.

Read more: Non-Alcoholic Wine Shop 2048 Opens Friday In Ukrainian Village

Credit: Trey Arline/ Block Club Chicago
U.S. Rep Danny Davis speaking with other Leaders Network founders at the groundbreaking of the Great Lakes Credit Union in Austin.

Read more: Credit Union Coming To Austin As Much-Needed Financial Resource For West Siders

Credit: Jacqueline Cardenas/ Block Club Chicago
A women holds a sign at The End To Overdose Now Rally at Federal Plaza on Monday afternoon.

Read more: ‘End To Overdose Now’ Rally Calls For Solutions To City’s Opioid Crisis

Credit: Mina Bloom/Block Club Chicago
Teachers and other members of the ChiArts community marching outside the Humboldt Park/West Town school Wednesday, threatening to go on strike.

Read more: ChiArts Teachers Prepare To Strike As Contract Negotiations Falter

Credit: Jacqueline Cardenas/ Block Club Chicago
Peter Toader (left) and Marius Toader (right) in front of their frozen custard shop, 2928 N. Broadway St.

Read more: Brothers Creamery Frozen Custard Opens In Lakeview, Making Romanian Family’s Dream A Reality

Credit: Quinn Myers/Block Club Chicago
A temporary shuffleboard court set up at Senior Citizens Memorial Park in Bucktown

Read more: Bucktown Shuffleboard Players Want To Revive A Long Lost Public Court

Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago
Mischa Reddy, Lindsey Cummings, Jesse Hosek and Gabrielle Oliver smile for a group photo at the Chicago Music & Acting Academy’s Jefferson Park studio Aug. 17, 2023.

Read more: A Jefferson Park Nonprofit Is Helping Teens Access Higher Arts Education

Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
The Last Chapter Book Shop, 2013 W. Roscoe Ave., in Roscoe Village on Aug. 30, 2023.

Read more: The Last Chapter, A Bookstore Focused On Romance, Opens In Roscoe Village This Weekend

Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Elaine Bell-Quinn poses next to her heart-shaped garden at Kitteh Soup Kitchen and Garden, 4738 W. Monroe St., in West Garfield Park on July 28, 2023.
Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Teagan the cat sticks his tongue out at Kitteh Soup Kitchen and Garden, 4738 W. Monroe St., in West Garfield Park on July 28, 2023.
Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Elaine Bell-Quinn rubs her hands through oregano at Kitteh Soup Kitchen and Garden, 4738 W. Monroe St., in West Garfield Park on July 28, 2023.

Read more: Despite Setbacks, A West Side Community Garden And Cat Sanctuary Is Taking Root

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